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2008 100 Most Influential People in Finance

By showing others the way ahead, the leaders and innovators who populate the 2008 list are leaving their marks on the world of finance.

In a year of upheavals and sudden surprises, Treasury & Risk's list of the 100 most influential movers and shakers in finance is a true reflection of the times. Adversity brings out the best in the best. In some cases, the CFOs, treasurers and risk managers on this year's list face the greatest challenges of their careers. We chose Fed chief Ben Bernanke for the cover because views on the U.S. economy, which were so negative earlier this year, have lately taken a turn for the better. If that holds--and the worst of the subprime and credit market crisis is behind us--we could be at the start of a new era at the Fed and for the economy. Other important themes include XBRL and international accounting convergence, which are expected to keep rising in importance for U.S. corporations in the year ahead, bringing massive changes to the old ways of doing business.

THE FINANCIAL C-SUITE

Dave Anderson, SVP and CFO, Honeywell International Inc. This will be a busy year for Anderson, who recently said that, thanks to a strong balance sheet, plenty of available credit and diminished seller expectations, Honeywell could lay out as much as $3 billion for acquisitions.

Mark Buthman, SVP and CFO, Kimberly-Clark Corp. In addition to re-engineering global finance to better serve business teams at lower costs, Buthman championed worldwide deployment of its SAP IT platform, representing the largest systems investment in Kimberly-Clark's history.

Frank Calderoni, EVP and CFO, Cisco Systems Inc. Cisco is back, as it proved by topping expectations in its most recent quarterly results. With Calderoni's help, the company is proving its business model is ready to take on the next set of challenges that technology sector rivals, and the economy, can dish out.

Nelson Chai, EVP and CFO, Merrill Lynch & Co. Chai sharpened his skills as CFO at the NYSE before moving to Merrill last year, under CEO John Thain. He has played a key role in de-leveraging Merrill Lynch's balance sheet and under his leadership, the company has raised more than $15.5 billion of new capital through public and private transactions.

Gary Crittenden, CFO, Citigroup Inc. Soon after Crittenden arrived at Citi last year--following a successful stint at American Express--the company was plunged into the credit market crisis. Being at the center of such a big storm may not be to everyone's liking, but Crittenden again is proving it's the challenges that separate the good from the great.

Robert Hull, CFO, GMAC After taking on the unenviable task of driving GMAC out of the fog, Hull faces trial by fire: He hopes to restructure the flailing Residential Capital unit to stave off bankruptcy.

Brian Kirkpatrick, EVP and CFO, T-Mobile USA, Deutsche Telekom Though a unit of giant Deutsche Telekom, T-Mobile under Kirkpatrick's financial leadership has earned the independence and the capital to expand without bureaucratic logjams, culminating in the recent $2.4 billion acquisition of SunCom.

Don Leclair, EVP and CFO, Ford Motor Co. Leclair is shepherding Ford through the biggest financial turnaround in its 105-year history. The automaker reported a $100 million first-quarter profit and promised full-year profitability in 2009.

Cathie Lesjak, EVP and CFO, Hewlett-Packard Co. As HP breaks into a new business realm--that of IT services provider--with its planned acquisition of EDS, Lesjak has another chance to do what she does best--turn challenges into success stories.

Chris Liddell, SVP and CFO, Microsoft Corp. Liddell is the brains behind Microsoft's impressive Investor Central Web site, which is on the cutting edge of moving finance departments into the next phase of XBRL adoption.

Steve Patrick, CFO, Colgate-Palmolive Co. Patrick plays a key role in Colgate's dogged determination to make governance a part of the corporate fabric, and, in so doing, proves that good governance can return more in profits than it costs.

Frank Sklarsky, EVP and CFO, Eastman Kodak Co. After Sklarsky proved his mettle at ConAgra by successfully tackling the challenges of a large, complex global company undergoing change, Kodak brought him on board to work his magic there.

Stacy Smith, VP and CFO, Intel Corp. Smith continues to build on the unity between finance and business strategy to create new growth opportunities, with an eye toward taking the chipmaker beyond the PC space.

David Viniar, EVP and CFO, The Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Viniar and his team had the foresight to unload much of Goldman's subprime portfolio before the credit crisis struck, making it the most profitable investment bank in 2007. While it took a hit earlier this year, the damage was minor compared to the battering other Wall Street firms took.

David Wyshner, CFO, Avis Budget Group After the seamless breakup of Cendant, Wyshner took on the herculean task of restructuring the financing so the four resulting companies would have adequate stand-alone funds. For his success, Wyshner and his team won two 2007 Alexander Hamilton Awards.

TREASURERS

Elizabeth Beshel, Global Treasurer, The Goldman Sachs Group Beshel was the first line of defense for Goldman's liquidity risk, funding and balance sheet throughout the turmoil in the global credit markets.

Craig Call, Former Treasurer, Gateway Inc. When a confluence of liquidity challenges threatened the momentum of Gateway's recovery, Call?(C) and his team avoided a working capital crunch by convincing suppliers to buy credit puts instead of factoring, which resulted in a healthy cash position and two Alexander Hamilton Awards.

Jennifer Ceran, VP and Treasurer, eBay Inc. With Ceran at the reins, eBay's PayPal unit solved a costly working capital problem through a multipronged effort in Europe and Asia, cutting PayPal's equity-financed capital costs by 97 million ($150 million at today's rates) and earning a gold AHA in the process.

Eric Heaton, Treasurer, Merrill Lynch & Co. Heaton helped to head off a cash crunch at Merrill by overseeing a series of transactions, including raising $11.4 billion in April and, earlier in the year, selling $6.6 billion in preferred stock to the Kuwait Investment Corp., the Kuwait Investment Authority and Japan's Mizuho Corporate Bank.

Charles Holley, EVP of Finance and Treasurer, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. Holley built a top-flight team to transform treasury, tax, investor relations and strategy and planning functions. If that wasn't enough, Wal-Mart has also improved working capital and free cash flow capabilities, and maintained its AA rating while initiating a $15 billion share repurchase program.

Jonathan Klug, SVP and Treasurer, AT&T Corp. Klug has maintained a strong balance sheet to return more than $19 billion in share buybacks and $6.5 billion in dividends to AT&T shareholders in the first quarter of 2008, while refinancing billions of dollars in debt.

Stephen Lieberman, VP and Treasurer, UAL Corp. As United Airlines tries to bulk up through possible mergers with Continental Airlines and U.S. Airways, Lieberman's proven skills at debt restructuring and aircraft securitization will come in handy.

David Taggart, VP and Treasurer, The Coca-Cola Co. Taggart, who leads Coke's global treasury activities across six continents, was the architect of the company's first debt issuance in many years.

John Tus, VP and Treasurer, Honeywell International Inc. When it comes to best practices, Honeywell's treasury is about endurance and the long haul. That's why Tus' finance team snared the Alexander Hamilton Overall Excellence Award for sustained accomplishments across a broad spectrum of treasury activities.

Burnetta B. Williams, VP and Treasurer, FedEx Corp. A 25-year FedEx veteran, Williams became treasurer one year ago and is breaking new ground with the innovative use of payment technology and policy systems as marketing tools.

Arnold Hanish, Executive Director of Finance and CAO, Eli Lilly and Co. With a clogged pipeline making revenue prospects uncertain, Lilly, with leadership from Hanish, is proving that pharmaceutical companies can find savings through financial innovation.

Jamie S. Miller, VP, Controller and CAO, General Electric Co. Miller is leading GE's accounting team with an emphasis on developing technical expertise at all levels of the organization.

John Park, Controller, Bank of New York Mellon Corp. Park's success in the treasury services and global markets businesses landed him the controller spot in May, where his expertise and leadership skills position him to boost BoNY Mellon's global financial organization.

Timothy Shaughnessy, VP and Controller, IBM Corp. Embracing the prospect of change, Shaughnessy and IBM are well ahead of many less enthusiastic companies in planning for international standards convergence.

Margaret Smyth, VP and Controller, United Technologies Corp. Going where few have gone before, Smyth and UT are setting the pace for international accounting standards convergence and XBRL implementation.

Marilyn Spearing, Head of Trade Finance and Cash Management Corporates, Global Transaction Banking, Deutsche Bank AG Under Spearing's direction, Deutsche Bank has taken the SEPA lead and is strategically extending that same market leadership into the Americas and Asia, while driving industry momentum.

Robert W. Stasik, EVP and Head of treasury services, Bank of New York Mellon Corp. Since the two banks merged last summer, Stasik has led a parallel-track approach to delivering best-of-breed service to global trade, cash management and payments solutions customers.

David Trotter, Head of Treasury Services, Wachovia Corp. As head of the third largest U.S. cash management provider, Trotter has brought a customer focus that is driving growth, while setting his sights on industry-leading product innovation.

Francesco Vanni d'Archirafi, Global Head, Treasury and Trade Solutions, Citigroup Inc. Known for his unyielding client focus--and as a catalyst for innovation and change--d'Archirafi oversaw the merger of Citi's cash management and trade services and finance business, which keeps growing through acquisitions.

Lee Zhang, Head of Global Banking, Asia-Pacific, Deutsche Bank AG Zhang is leading the successful build-out of Deutsche Bank's corporate finance franchise in the region and, as chairman of the China business, he spearheads the institution's continuing impressive growth in China.

GOVERNANCE AND COMPLIANCE

Steven B. Adler, Director, Data Governance Solutions, IBM Corp. An adjunct professor at NYU, Adler chairs an international group of more than 50 competing executives who are collaborating to develop a blueprint of comprehensive data governance solutions for security, privacy, trust and compliance issues.

Trent Gazzaway, Managing Partner, Corporate Governance, Grant Thornton LLP COSO looked to compliance sage Gazzaway to develop guidance for corporate implementation of internal controls to assure that auditors can recognize good monitoring where it's taking place and learn how to improve monitoring where needed.

Lars Josefsson, CEO, Vattenfall AB Vattenfall translates as "waterfall" in English, an odd name for a giant Swedish power company. But CEO Josefsson proves Vattenfall's commitment to nature by pioneering clean-air CCS (carbon dioxide capture and storage) technology at a pilot plant in Germany.

Jim Kaitz, President and CEO, Association for Financial Professionals Leading the charge for credit rating agency reform, Kaitz has challenged the SEC to "fully exercise" its authority to oversee the activities of the agencies.

Jonathan Lash, President, World Resources Institute When Lash speaks, corporate executives listen. His writings on the competitive advantages of a warming world have convinced the likes of GE's Jeffrey Immelt and other heavyweights to lobby for more environmental regulations.

Alan Miciak, Dean, John F. Donahue Graduate School of Business, Duquesne University The creator of the "sustainable MBA" program is reaching beyond academia's boundaries to introduce corporate responsibility concepts directly into the business community.

Robert Pozen, Chairman of MFS Investment Management and Chairman of the SEC's Advisory Committee on Improvements to Financial Reporting An advocate for change, Pozen is leading a revolutionary committee that is addressing the current complexity in financial reporting and developing suggestions on ways to improve the process.

Gwen Ruta, Director of Corporate Partnerships, Environmental Defense Fund Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts put the nonprofit group on the corporate map when it asked EDF to assess the environmental performance of its U.S. companies. It's Ruta's job to help business partners create best practices when it comes to protecting the earth.

DEALMAKERS

Jamie Dimon, CEO, JPMorgan Chase & Co. JPMorgan Chase, under Dimon, was hardly immune to the fallout in the credit and subprime markets, but it faired much better than most, and the expected $1.5 billion takeover of Bear Stearns should provide benefits for years to come.

Philip Falcone, Senior Managing Director, Harbinger Capital Partners The king of the new breed of Bear Stearns-bred vulture capitalists, Falcone recently swooped down on Media General. Will The New York Times be his next prey?

Al Gore, Partner, Kleiner Perkins Caulfield & Byers The former vice president and current venture capitalist was one of the partners behind Kleiner's May launch of two green funds totaling $1.2 billion, with one exclusively devoted to helping spread mass-market adoption of environmentally-friendly products.

Carl Icahn, Chairman, Icahn Enterprises LP No sooner had Microsoft pulled its bid for Yahoo, than corporate raider Icahn took up the fight. But where Microsoft was cordial throughout, the typically contentious Icahn has begun a hostile proxy battle that could have a lasting impact on the search-engine company.

Kirk Kerkorian, President and CEO, Tracinda Corp. Flying under the radar, 90-year-old Kerkorian stealthily acquired a 4.7% stake in Ford, with plans to amass a 5.6% position, as speculation persists he may be more than just a passive investor in the automaker.

Miles Everson, Partner, Global Risk Management Solutions, PricewaterhouseCoopers international Ltd. One of the authors of the COSO integrated framework for enterprise risk management, Everson now helps organizations implement ERM and governance strategies in the face of the increasingly complex world of accounting.

Brad Jewett, ERM Director, Microsoft Corp. Jewett is considered a risk management visionary by his admirers, who point to his unique Rhythm of Risk concept, which integrates ERM into the lifecycles of Microsoft's business.

James Lam, President, James Lam & Associates Widely considered the first chief risk officer, Lam has published three books in the past year, and is still going strong.

Dave Richards, President, Institute of Internal Auditors Richards led a task force of 20 experts from three professional organizations to produce the definitive guide on how to manage the risk of fraud.

Carl Spetzler, CEO, Strategic Decisions Group and Director, Strategic Decision and Risk Management Program, Stanford University Spetzler helps leaders cope with the lack of explicit strategic alternatives and the complexities of uncertainty and risk over long time horizons and achieve lasting change.

Martha Valerio, VP, Information Risk Management, Northwestern Mutual Financial Network Valerio has the vision to imagine a cutting-edge risk management program and the experience and knowledge to make it happen.

Jack VanDerhei, Temple University Business Professor and Employee Benefits Research Institute Fellow As research director of the Employee Benefits Research Institute, VanDerhei has his finger on the pulse of DC retirement plans.

TECHNOLOGY

David Childers, CEO, EthicsPoint Inc. While heading up a company that provides sophisticated solutions for enhancing governance, Childers finds time to contribute to the broader ethics and compliance community by serving on nonprofit organizations dedicated to improving the principles of good governance.

Kevin B. Dabney, EVP and CIO, Wells Fargo Payment Systems Dabney and his 1,500-member team continue to reinvent the payment process for the bank's business customers with such products as the Commercial Electronic Office, CEO Workstation and Desktop Deposit service.

Lawrence J. Ellison, CEO, Oracle Corp. The master of the merger, Ellison has kept the business software consolidation train rolling, while adding to Oracle's financial product depth. First came the $3.3 billion acquisition of Hyperion last year, followed by the recently completed $8.5 billion purchase of BEA Systems.

Jim Goodnight, CEO, SAS Institute Inc. As the biggest remaining independent enterprise BI provider, SAS is considered by consultants to be the next big software player. Goodnight insists the firm will remain independent. But then so did Cognos, Hyperion and Business Objects.

Robert Johnson, CEO, Environmental Support Systems Inc. Under Johnson, ESS has made substantial inroads in linking GRC with health, safety and crisis management sustainability software to help businesses meet their corporate social responsibility goals while driving down risks and costs.

Doug Merritt, EVP and General Manager, Business Objects, SAP AG Merritt is leading SAP's consolidation effort, following the acquisition of Business Objects, as the German giant competes to redefine the business software space.

Michael Morrison, VP of Financial Performance Management, IBM Corp. Following IBM's January acquisition of BI software maker Cognos, Morrison took on a leadership role in guiding the product strategy of the combined company, with plans to develop a start-to-finish system for management.

Holly Roland, VP of marketing for GRC, SAP AG SAP's Roland continues to be a stand-out in the challenge to develop holistic GRC solutions, resulting in the April release of a suite of products that experts say is the closest thing to an all-in-one tool that links risk management to strategy, planning and even performance.

REGULATORS

Ben Bernanke, Chairman, U.S. Federal Reserve System He had big boots to fill when he arrived as Fed chairman in 2006 and his first two years on the job were anything but smooth. But seven consecutive rate cuts have helped stabilize the economy, as well as financial markets, and Chairman Bernanke's standing continues to rise.

Christopher COX, Chairman, Securities and Exchange Commission Mandatory XBRL use is a fait accompli for about 500 of the largest U.S. companies thanks to Cox's relentless push for interactive data in financial reports.

Bob Herz, Chairman, Financial Accounting Standards Board Herz's edict is "improve, simplify and converge," while his intent is to keep investors better informed and make the U.S. more competitive in an increasingly complex global economy.

Zoe-Vonna Palmrose, Deputy Chief Accountant for Professional Practice, Securities and Exchange Commission Palmrose was instrumental in breaking the SEC code on internal controls regulation by drafting much-needed guidance, ensuring that companies can have manageable but effective controls.

Henry M. (Hank) Paulson Jr., Secretary of the U.S. Dept. of Treasury Paulson has taken a lot of heat for the Bear Stearns transaction to help stabilize financial markets, but that was just a weekend's worth of work. He is also leading Treasury's multi-pronged drive to simplify and modernize financial reporting and regulation.

POLITICIANS

U.S.Rep. Spencer Bachus (R.-Ala.), Ranking Republican on the Financial Services Committee The ranking Republican on the Financial Services Committee has countered Barney Frank's initial proposal for new regulation in the post-subprime crisis world with a much narrower bill with far less money involved. But even he agrees increasing FHA funds to help financially strapped homeowners with cheaper fixed-rate mortgages is a good idea.

Michael R. Bloomberg, Mayor, New York City Mayor Bloomberg's sweeping environmental program includes 127 separate initiatives and plans to better use the city's waterways for transportation. Not all have been winners--his $8 congestion fee plan for Manhattan recently stalled--but that hasn't stopped him from adding to his stature as the model for big-city mayors.

Andrew Cuomo, Attorney General, New York State Cuomo subpoenaed 18 banks to kick-start an investigation into the stunning unraveling of the auction-rate securities market that brought down at least one corporate treasurer.

U.S.Rep. Barney Frank (D.-Mass.), Chair, House Financial Services Committee Frank has offered what he calls a "grand bargain" to financial services companies: Work with him on a $300 million FHA refinancing package that would require their writing down losses on outstanding principal, or face more regulation. Business didn't rush to his side. More oversight could follow.

U.S.Rep. George Miller (D.-Calif.), Chair, House Education and Labor Committee Miller-backed legislation requiring fee disclosure for DC plans cruised through his committee and is expected to be passed by the House this summer, rattling some plan sponsors, but pleasing governance groups.

GLOBALIZATION

Sheik Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President and Ruler, Abu Dhabi With $700 billion in oil reserves, Abu Dhabi and its secretive, government fund, controlled by the sheik, turned heads with its trend-setting 4.9% stake in Citibank.

Christa Davies, EVP of Global Finance, Aon Corp. Davies' goal--to unite 43,000 employees at more than 500 locations in 120 countries through a single technology platform and uniform policies--is becoming a model for others to follow.

Essa Kazim, Chairman, Borse Dubai Ltd. Kazim is digging into Dubai's deep pockets with a bid to win the stock exchange consolidation race. With stakes in Nasdaq, the LSE and Scandinavia's OMX, Kazim is next eyeing Taiwan and Karachi.

Kevin Knight, President, Australian Institute of Risk Management Knight leads the International Organization for Standardization group, entrusted with the critical task of developing a global risk standard.

Wan Ling Martello, SVP and CFO, Wal-Mart International Martello leads a $100 billion global business that is growing 20% a year, faster than any other retailer.

Charlie Mccreevy, Internal Markets Commissioner, European Union McCreevy backs the convergence of GAAP and IFRS, but he has made it clear that it won't happen without his input.

Sir David Tweedie, Chairman, International Accounting Standards Board The man who was once branded the most hated accountant in Britain is now extending his sphere of influence to the U.S., as European standards gain more of a foothold across the Atlantic.

Hu Xiaolian, Director, China's State Administration of Foreign Exchange Xiaolian's decisions on valuing the renminbi will impact whether U.S. business's march to China continues at the current staggering rate.

Treasury & Risk

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